Hot Cross Biscuits…

August 9, 2013

Before we start, these need a health warning.
They are seriously delicious, and very moreish.
I made a first batch (18 biscuits) on Tuesday, and then had to make a second, double batch, on Wednesday, as I started to worry we would have none left, and I had an addiction to feed…

They are based on the recipe from the book Biscuit by Miranda Gore Brown who was on the Great British Bake Off a series or two ago. My auntie very kindly bought me the book a while ago saying “I saw this, and thought of you”. That is either a compliment, as she knows I bake, or she things I eat a LOT of biscuits…

To make a normal non piggy sized batch of 18 biscuitsThis is what you need :

125g butter at room temperature

50g golden caster sugar

25g light brown soft sugar

Zest of half a lemon

Zest of half an orange

1 egg yolk (save the white for coconut macaroons-recipe coming to a blog near you soon!)

100g plain white flour

50g wholemeal flour

25g cornflour

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp mixed spice

1/4 tsp ground ginger

100g dried mixed fruit

This is what you do:

Pre-heat the oven to 180C (fan) and line 2 baking sheets with greaseproof paper or reusable silicon liners

Cream together the butter and the sugars and the zests

Add the egg yolk and mix

Add the flours and the spices (sift if you feel the need, I don’t) and lastly the dried fruit and mix until it comes together into a sticky dough

Roll out (the instructions say in between 2 sheets of cling-film, but I just floured liberally and it was fine, and saved the clingfilm from landfill..!) to about 0.5cm thick

Stamp out round biscuits with a 7cm cutter, or the end of a small glass, and place on the baking sheets

Bake for about 12-15 minutes

The original instructions say to glaze the biscuits after 10 minutes with apricot jam and then bake for another 5 minutes, and then do icing crosses on them when cool. I didn’t bother with any of this, as I am lazy and they were still A-MAZING

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Kudos to you for the no cling film route! I used cling film when pastry was in the fridge, but then left the ball of cling film in the fridge til next time. The BF will think I’m nutty if he finds it, but if he doesn’t, I’m sweet! I do also keep once or twice used greaseproof paper in the fridge for reuse too!